


Keep the baby safe

by WhyYesIamBlonde



Series: Slavery Universe [10]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Kidnapping, Baby, Canon - Movie, Fluff and Angst, Iron Man 3 Spoilers, Portals, Still rated G, also not a fantastic four fic, non X-men movie compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-28
Updated: 2013-07-20
Packaged: 2017-12-16 11:46:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/861629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyYesIamBlonde/pseuds/WhyYesIamBlonde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony takes guardianship of his son. How do you keep a child safe with so many enemies?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The perfect nursery

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read this go watch Iron Man 3. Imagine the bunny was for his kid. Who wouldn’t want that as a child?
> 
> Mild mention of Tony being raped in the past. If you haven't read my other stuff, know that Tony did not give the mother permission to bed him.

After the kidnapping Tony and Pepper decided it would be best to spend some time in California. They needed some space and both decided that raising a child while being an Avenger would be dangerous. Pepper spent her days researching schools and baby supplies while Tony became more and more of a mess. He worried about protecting his family. He worried that he would be a bad father. He worried that his many many enemies would use his child to destroy him. He knew that he could not allow his baby to get hurt. He made more and more suits trying to come up with the perfect one. He had to keep Pepper and baby safe. 

XXX

His house was destroyed. He managed to save DumE and U. His suits were all gone. He finally realized that it wasn’t the outside metal that he needed in order to keep those he loved safe. He was still Iron Man but he was stronger now. Wiser now. He had the shrapnel removed. He could breathe easier and he no longer had to worry about the ten rings. Life seemed like it was full of nothing but promise. His child was due in a few weeks. He and Pepper happily returned to New York to retake up residence at the Avenger tower. 

Bruce was also a big help. He listened as Tony went on and on about the troubles in his life. Well, he tried to listen but he had to let his mind wander in order to calm down occasionally. Tony matched all of the   
Avengers in that he had it rough. Sure he had no idea what true hunger was and never had to worry about affording clothes and heat but that didn’t mean that he was pampered. 

XXX

The phone rang. SHIELD was calling to let Tony know that Dr. Dalva had gone into labor. He jumped up and started getting dressed. Pepper woke up and looked at him questioningly.

“It’s time” 

XXX

The two entered the medical facility in the SHIELD prison. They stayed in the waiting room. Tony had no interest in seeing the mother of his child. It was bad enough looking at her during her trial and telling perfect strangers how she had hurt him. He was not going to let her hurt him again.

He focused on the baby. He had managed to convince his mind that this was the same as if he had adopted the child. The only bonus would be that he knew his child had an awesome father.

A nurse came out and smiled. The mother had requested the sex to be a surprise so the father was never told. He stood up in anticipation.

She smiled and said, “It’s a boy!”

Tony jumped up and hugged Pepper. “When can we see him?”

“Well, the mother is saying her goodbyes. He will be out soon.”

XXX

Tony looked down at his son. His precious son. The flop of dark hair and the little button nose. Ten fingers. Ten toes. (Counted three times). Two perfectly round little ears. A little huff could be heard as the baby moved a bit in his sleep. Tony wanted to hold him forever. He never wanted to share him with anyone.

The nurse smiled at them as she said, “The mother named him...”

“No!”Tony said quickly. “She does not get to name him. She does not get to give him anything. My lawyers are already working on keeping her away from us. She is a kidnapper and rapist. She doesn’t deserve him.”

Pepper was next to him oohing at the child. She looked up and smiled as she put her hand on Tony's shoulder to calm him down. “Then what is his name?” 

Tony had been thinking about this for a long while. He wanted something unique but not so strange that no one could pronounce it. “Elias Falconer Stark.”


	2. The nursery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The perfect nursery for the little guy.

The nursery was perfect. The crib was the only truly simple thing in it. Tony had tried to come up with a better design but only a mattress surrounded by slats seemed safe. The changing table on the other hand had a special system for cleaning, sanitizing, drying and storing the cloth diapers. The video monitor was connected to JARVIS so Elias could be seen on any screen in the house. 

The toys were all age appropriate and were mainly in black, white and red. The mobile was made with the prerequisite bunny, sheep, cat and bird but he also added a little cloth water molecule and miniature Iron Man. 

The walls were sage green and the carpet had various colors on it with a flower motif. The furniture was white and the walls were decorated with the alphabet and simple math equations. One wall was even turned into a giant chalkboard. 

The baby started to cry as soon as he was placed in his crib. Tony still wouldn’t let anyone but he and Pepper hold him so he sat down in the rocking chair and fed his son for the first time. He had looked up feeding and burping techniques on the internet but everything left his head as soon as he saw his son’s eye's for the first time. The irises were so dark. His son looked at him as he latched onto the bottle. Tony’s heart ached in love of this perfect little person.

Finally Pepper got her turn as she burped Elias and played with him a bit before putting him back down to sleep.

XXX

Later that day each Avenger wandered in as they returned to the tower from whatever they do during the day and congratulated the new father. Clint had bought him a case of cigars. Phil brought a blanket covered with pictures of the Avengers symbols with Captain America’s shield being in the center. Steve brought the boy some toddler friendly toy cars and trucks. Bruce brought some award winning baby books. Thor and Jane came with cute little outfits of varying sizes. Natasha didn’t bring anything but promised Elias that his tetka would keep him safe from Babba Yagga. 

The next few weeks were a blur of feedings, diaper changes, and lot of playing. Pepper and Tony dropped everything else to focus on Elias. After a couple of weeks though it was obvious that Pepper needed to go back to work and Stark Industries needed Tony's help fixing a bug in the new cell phones before the launch day next week. They finally agreed that they needed a nanny. Steve volunteered to watch over little Elias until the perfect person could be hired.

XXX

“I love you, a bushel and a peck..” Steve was singing to the little man quietly as he changed what felt like the fiftieth diaper that day. The parents were due home in a few hours and nap time was over so when Elias was changed, fed and burped they sat down on the living room floor for some tummy time. The baby pushed himself up on his chubby little arms. Steve marveled at the child and relaxed on the couch to draw Elias as he played.

The noise came from outside. A soft thud. Steve probably would have ignored it if all of the alarms in the building didn’t go off five seconds later. He looked up quickly and saw a man standing outside touching the window. Nothing beneath his feet but air. The soldier didn’t need to think. He just picked up the baby and started to run. As the glass shattered behind him Steve sprinted down the hallway and into the nursery. He slammed his hand on the big red button located next to the door. Grinding could be heard as steel walls fell around them. The windows and doorway were sealed. The other two walls already had steel reinforced behind the drywall along with the floor and ceiling. A hissing could be heard as the room’s air filters went into overdrive.

Steve looked around. He was trapped in here until one of the few people with the code let him out. There was a touchscreen that connected them to JARVIS. A refrigerator and cupboards had a weeks worth of food. The oxygen tanks would keep them alive for five days if the sensors picked up anything that the filters couldn’t handle. There was a water filtration system in place to allow for drinking and bathing. The only truly horrible thing was that Steve would have to use the diaper changing station as a bathroom until help arrived. Not something he was looking forward to. 

The wails from the child brought Steve out of his thought process as he cataloged everything that he had available. He rocked and hushed the baby. Singing softly to the little guy. “Hush little baby, don't say a word...”

XXX

Tony jumped at the sounds of the alarm. He had been in his lab working on a new quinjet engine for SHIELD. He swerved around to the computer screen as JARVIS started to relay the information. 

“Sir, it seems that the window of the penthouse’s living room has been breached. Captain Rogers and Master Elias are currently locked down in the nursery. The other Avengers have received the call to assemble.”

“Good,” Tony said running to his suit. He stopped short. He didn’t have it. He was so worried about keeping Elias safe that he worked on everything but what he needed in order to help the Avengers. He ran to the elevator and it only stopped because it was him. Otherwise Pepper would have been allowed to travel to the top floor unhindered. 

“Tony,” She exclaimed as he ran into the small space.

“He’s fine Pep. Steve has him in lock-down.”

Pepper sighed a breath of relief as the elevator quickly brought them to their destination.

The room was a mess. Glass shards littered the floor. Someone had smashed through the coffee table. Toys were thrown about. A banging could be heard down the hallway. Pepper and Tony wasted no time as they ran down and grabbed the man that was trying to break through the wall. Pepper's hands burned and the man screamed out in pain. Tony lifted him with strength that he should not have and threw him against the wall.

Tony growled at the man who grinned as he pushed the billionaire back. Tony flew down the hall at the force. Pepper kicked him and the wall was dented as his head was then smashed with her fist. The man's eyes glazed over as he fell unconscious to the floor.

They had him tied up and Stark had stuck a red bow on his head by the time that anyone from SHIELD showed. Clint rolled his eyes and grabbed the man while Coulson took their statements. A special transport jet landed on the roof and some nondescript agents took him to the special holding cells for mutants before he could regain consciousness. 

Only after the villain had left the building did Tony give JARVIS the code to unlock the nursery. The steel walls came up and Tony rushed in. Steve was holding onto the sleeping infant but immediately gave him up to the fretting father. Tony held his son to his chest. He wanted to just hold on and never put the little man down. He felt all of his worries and fears fade away at the sight of the most precious thing in his life.


	3. Going to the park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets a new job and takes Elias to the park. Trouble of course is brewing.

Steve ran into Pepper in the kitchen the next morning. She was nursing a cup of coffee like it was the only thing keeping her alive. He sat down next to her and cleared his throat. She turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Is the offer still on the table?” He said a bit nervously.

“Sure, as long as you remind me what it was,” She responded without hesitation.

“To get a job that I agreed with so that I could earn part of my keep.” He looked at the table.

“Steve,” she said smiling. “You are not a slave in this house. You are family. You earn your keep every time Tony leaves the lab long enough to eat and sleep.”

Steve smiled back. “Thank you but I was wondering if I could apply for the nanny position.”

Pepper blinked. “Oh... Of course. I’ll talk to Tony about it.” After a few moments she said, “Are you sure? This would get in the way of you helping the Avengers.”

“I actually thought about that,” he said, “Sherry down in the secretarial pool has experience in childcare and could use the extra money if you would be willing to let her be an emergency babysitter.”

Pepper’s smile vanished. “She was actually one of the people we interviewed since she already passed the initial security clearance process. Not one of our top choices.”

Steve looked confused. “Why? She helped raise her four younger siblings, she has five kids of her own and she has a black belt in one of those martial arts thingys.”

“She also has no child education background and is currently overwhelmed with those kids.”

“She had more life experience than any of those college kids and she is doing a wonderful job keeping those kids in line as a single mom. Do you really think it would be a bad thing for Elias to spend time with other kids?”

Pepper sighed, “I’ll talk to Tony.”

XXX

It had been a very slow couple of months for the Avengers. The few times they were called the fight was over in just a few hours. At first, Tony didn’t join them so he could look after his son but then Pepper started taking on that job when Steve wasn’t available. The new suit worked like a charm and in no time the entire team was working seamlessly again. It was impossible to notice that Tony hadn’t fought with them in over a year. 

“Iron Man, 5 o’clock,” Hawkeye called out as Tony flew around a tree to dodge an incoming missile. 

“Thanks, Tweetie,” he responds as he flies around the tree and catches the falling trunk before it could smash the house underneath it. He drops it in the backyard and then zooms over to terrorist holding the rocket launcher. He picks the guy up and drops him right next to a SHIELD van before going after another set of bad guys.

They were a bunch of fanatics who believed that all hospitals did was weaken the human race by allowing lesser specimens to live long enough to reproduce. They demanded that all health care stop immediately or humanity was going to turn into a bunch of weak idiots who had to rely on machines to do every simple task. They also claimed that our industries were killing the environment and that the human race was dooming itself.

“Man, these guys watched Wall-E a few too many times,” Tony heard Clint’s voice say. “I say we ban their movie privileges until they can tell reality from Disney.”

“Naw,” answered Tony. “I say we lock them up in the tower and make them wait for a dashing hero to save them. When they are old and grey they might realize that happily ever after doesn’t exist.”

“Silent on the coms,” Coulson said sternly. 

“Yes, sir!” both men said in unison giving the handler mock salutes before returning to the fight.

When the fight was over they had managed to round up over twenty people without killing a single one. Oh, more than a few were going to need some intense physical therapy but they were told to thank their lucky stars that the Hulk was not asked to help stop them. 

As the team went back to the tower Iron Man zoomed ahead. He had not seen his son in over twelve hours. A new record for him. He landed on the deck and walked slow enough that JARVIS could work the machines to disconnect the armor. As soon as the last piece was taken and sent to the lab he picked up speed and ran into the penthouse. 

Sherry was sitting with Elias, reading to him from a Dr. Seuss book. Her older kids were at the table doing homework while her youngest was sitting next to his mother listening to her make the sounds that Mr. Brown can make.

Tony paused. Pepper must have been bogged down with work at Stark Industries. Usually it was her that he came home to. This was actually only the second time that they had used Sherry since she had agreed to babysit five weeks ago. She looked so perfect with the baby on her lap. Her eyes danced as Elias grabbed one of the pages and ripped it out of the book. She laughed as she let him play with it. “That’s okay, I think I have that page memorized by now.”

Tony chuckled a bit which made her look up. “Look bug,” she said holding Elias up to see. “Daddy’s home.”

The genius walked up and took his soon into his arms so that he could give him a raspberry on his cheek.

Elias laughed for a long time. Tony felt his heart melt every time he heard it. The little voice was always so happy. Tony couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to have such a precious gift for themselves.

XXX

Elias turned one a few weeks ago. Steve had settled into a routine at his job. Get up around 6 right before the boy wakes up. Help him to the potty. (he’d been trained for a month now). Feed him and let him play with his erector set. Well, it's not quite an erector set since Tony made it. The child was working on getting the engine into the crane he built. When it worked Steve clapped with him as it picked up the little block.

During lunch time Elias would have a simple sandwich and juice. Sometimes he was so into building that he would whine and cry until the food was actually in front of him. Then he would calm down and eat neatly. Once the food was gone he would jump up and go put his shoes on. Unless it was raining or snowing, afternoons were always spent outside until nap time.

This time Steve was taking his charge to the park. The weather was a little crisp but a simple jacket took care of that. They walked a few blocks and saw the trees up ahead. Elias started to shake a bit with excitement. 

“We gonna swing?” He asked.

“Yes, we are going to swing,” Steve said as they continued walking.

“We gonna slie?” 

“Yes, we can go down the slides.”

“We gonna san?”

“Yes, we can play in the sand.”

Elias now flat out vibrated with excitement and Steve picked him up to keep him from running ahead. He chuckled to himself as they had this entire conversation every other day. The boy squirmed in his arms to get down but Steve had a good grip on him and only let him down when they reached the area with the swings.

He needed a little help getting into the safety seat and Steve had to push him but the little boy pumped his legs with all of his might. Sometimes it was even in rhythm with how the swing was moving. After a while the little boy started to get nervous. He kept looking around and got upset when he couldn't see his nanny. Steve pulled him out of the swing and when he tried to place him on the slide the little boy held onto this shirt with all of his one year old strength. Steve was trying to get Elias to tell him what was wrong when his phone went off. He groaned as he grabbed Elias and started to head back to the tower before answering the special beep. 

“Cap, need to get your spangled ass over to central park.”

“Already here,” Steve said as he carried the scared toddler. “What’s going on?”

“Mr. Fantastic claims that a portal is about to open and”

Before Tony had a chance to finish that sentence the entire sky went dark. A swirling cloud appeared and then a white hole opened in the middle of it. Elias stopped moving and stared up at the sky. Steve didn’t know what was going on but had read enough science fiction that he blocked the boys eyes and started to run. He was a block out of central park when a great rushing noise could be heard and the wind nearly made Steve tumble. He just held onto Elias a little bit tighter to his chest and ran as fast as he could. He managed to make it back to the tower in under fifteen minutes. 

Just as he was about to open the door when his eyes whited out. A piercing pain went down his spine as he fell. He landed hard on his elbows and knees but managed to keep Elias safe as he blacked out.

XXX

Tony was working in his workshop. He was working on an upgrade to the towers security features and the coding was tedious but moving fast. It took a few tries before JARVIS could get his attention. He ended up turning off his creators music and beeping.

“What!” Tony yelled.

“Sir, Dr. Richards has been trying to get through to you.”

“Fine, put him through,” Tony growled. He hated losing his train of thought.

“Stark,” the voice said over the speakers. “I may need your help.”

“And why would the world’s smartest man need help?”

“There is a portal opening in the area. My equipment says that it should open up near central park and the rest of my team is out of town until tomorrow.”

“Why on earth would you be playing with portals without them nearby?” Tony was getting a headache as he started to pull out his phone to assemble the Avengers.

“I’m not doing it!” The infallible Mr. Fantastic was obviously at a loss for an answer.

“Do we have any information?” Tony was dialing Steve first. He needed to make sure his son was safe.

“No, I...” The phone connection crackled and died.

“Well, shit.” Tony said as his phone connection to Steve’s. “Cap, need to get your spangled ass over to central park.”

“Already here,” Steve said as he carried the wiggling toddler. “What’s up.”

“Mr. Fantastic claims that a portal is about to open and” that phone went dead too. If Steve was already in the park, that meant that his son was there as well. Tony felt a rise of panic that he quickly suppressed in order to tell JARVIS to call the other Avengers. He quickly put on his new suit and called Pepper to put on hers as he flew out of the building.

Just as Tony was gaining some good speed JARVIS reported that Captain America and Master Elias had made it back to the tower. Elias was perfectly safe but that Captain America had collapsed for no currently known reason. The doctors were working on him now and Sherry had taken custody of the child.

Tony sighed in relief to hear that his son was safe but hearing that one of his best friends was in trouble worried him. No known reason meant that there were no cuts or obvious trauma to the guy. He was probably the healthiest man on earth. What could have stopped him?

The portal was already closing by the time Iron Man reached his destination. Central Park was full of people. They all looked a little scared but no one looked hurt. There were no monsters to fight or strange beings to herd. 

Iron Man looked at Rescue as she met him at the playground and shook his head. There was no emergency. Just a bunch of scared civilians. Tony and Pepper flew back home. Coulson was already using JARVIS to communicate to the rest of SHIELD. They had set up a few teleconferences with other scientists to find out what had happened.

Reed Richards’ head popped up on one of them as he was trying to work the math. His one arm was stretched across the room fiddling with some dials on one of his machines. “This looks like it was opened locally.”

SHIELD’s screen showed Fury almost breathing a sigh of relief. “So you are saying that we don’t have to worry about someone opening a portal from the other side?”

“No,” Dr. Reed’s voice sounded like he was trying not to talk down to the director. “I’m saying that this particular portal was opened at this end. I have no proof that another sentient species wouldn’t open one at some point in time. According to simple statistics...”

Fury cut him off. “Okay people. Find me who opened this thing and discover if this is going to happen again.”

XXX

Two days later there was still no new information on the event but Steve woke up. He was groggy and complained of a headache but there were no other symptoms. He told the doctors of the bright light and the pain going down his spine. SHIELD had already interviewed everyone who had witnessed Captain Roger’s collapse. None of them had mentioned a light.

Fury was pacing in his office. “People want to know what happened. What do we say? We have the brightest scientists on the planet but have no idea. That something like this could happen again any time in any place?”

Coulson was sitting and going over information on his tablet. DA Hill was leaning against the wall. They kept quiet while their boss ranted and raved. Then the phone rang. Fury went over and grabbed it.

“What!” 

The computer screen lit up with Tony’s face. “Seriously, you have got to use the video phones I left you. That little thing only talks to you. How boring.”

“I don’t have time for this, Stark” Fury rubbed his forehead.

“There, there Director. I think I have found the source of our little mystery. Meet me in the dining room with Colonel Custard and don't forget the candle stick.”

The screen went dark and Fury sighed before leaving his office. The other two were quick to follow.

XXX

They were meeting at the conference (dining) room at the tower. The other Avengers except Thor were there along with the Fantastic Four. Clint wasn’t wearing his trademark glasses for a change. He claimed that he was enjoying the light.

“Now what the fuck is going on?” Fury said as he sat himself at the head of the table.

“There was a solar flare. It wasn’t supposed to be a big one but when it hit earth it was twice as powerful as anyone predicted.”

“And why did we not hear of this?” Fury asked.

“Because it was a non-event. Look, the Carrington Event of 1859 was so strong that it lit parts of the telegraph system on fire. If this flare was as strong as our satellites suggest, we should be pushed back into the dark ages. No working electronics, no cables that hadn’t been burned, severe UV radiation throughout the world. Yet all that happened was a portal opened in a fairly harmless place. Does that sound fishy to you?”

Dr. Richards looked up and twisted his neck to get a good look at the data that Tony was showing them. “How come I wasn’t told about this?”

“From what I hear, you managed to get on the bad side of NASA a few years ago. You are lucky they didn't make me sign a non-disclosure to keep this information away from you.” Tony snarked.

Reed huffed a bit but settled down quickly. “And what is your theory?”

“I think we need to find out if this was a normal guy trying to save the world or something more.”

“You mean a mutant.” Fury said with his eyes narrowing. They caused all sorts of trouble.

“Yes,” a calm voice could be heard. A mechanized wheelchair turned in from the other room and rolled up to an empty space a the table. “I do not know of who could have caused this but if it someone has the ability to redirect UV radiation than we need to make sure that he or she is able to control their powers."

“Professor,” Fury said. “Do you have any idea who this person is?”

“Actually, I didn’t when I first came here but I have been getting images sent to me that suggest that the person lives close by.”

“And that person is...” Johnny Storm was getting impatient. This geek talk never seemed to make sense to him and he was getting freaked out by the way the suit sitting across from him kept flitting his eyes between him and Captain America. Okay they looked a bit alike. Get over it. The archer dude sitting next to him looked like he was trying his best not to laugh.

Professor Xavier looked right into Tony’s eyes and said, “Elias Stark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched the cartoons and read a few things about the X-men but I don't focus on them because I dislike the third movie and don't know enough about the comics. This is definitely not an X-men fic so I didn't label it like one.


	4. Radiation: The hurty part of the sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Charles talk with Elias about his powers

The boy was brought into the dining room. His eyes were wide open and he clung to his father’s shirt as the large crowd looked in his direction. Tony whispered down to him that he was okay and that he just wanted to show his specail boy off. He sat down on a chair next to the professor. He stroked Elias’ hair and asked him if it was okay for his friend Charles to do the same. The boy stared for a moment before nodding. 

Xavier reached up while smiling. He spoke calmly to the boy as he placed his hands in his hair. “Hello Elias. I am a teacher. I was wondering if I could find out how smart you are.”

At that Elias grinned. “I’m super smart! Daddy says that I am just like him. A genie-ass!”

Everyone at the table chuckled as Xavier continued to hold onto the boys head. “That’s wonderful. I was hoping you would know what radiation is.”

“Uh huh,” the boy nodded. “It's the hurty part of the sun that makes Steve cover me in slime every morning. He says it will block it out.”

“Good good. Have you ever been outside without sunblock?”

“Yep.” The boy said. He thought for a second. “The day that Uncle Steve fell down. I didn’t like it. I made my skin all tingly like when Uncle Bruce holds me.”

The others all looked at Bruce for a moment. He wasn’t used to touches so it never dawned on him that the boy might be avoiding him. Looking back, it did seem that he went out of his way not to be touched by the man.

“Elias,” Bruce said from across the room. “Is it only me that makes you feel that way?”

The boy suddenly looked ashamed. He nodded slowly as he kept his face away from his father's friend.

“Hey, none of that,” He father said as he took hold of his son’s chin and turned him to see his face. “If you feel uncomfortable touching someone, you don’t let them touch you. For whatever reason.”

The boy seemed to brighten up a bit with his father’s understanding. 

Xavier let go of the boy's head. “It seems that you are a very special boy. That day when Steve fell, did you do anything different than you usually do?”

The boy looked up at his father for approval before talking. “I pushed.”

“Pushed?” Charles voice stayed calm and friendly.

“Yeah. It was growing so I pushed it away.” He then looked up at his father. “Am I in trouble?”

“No. No my sweet boy. You are perfect. I am very proud of you. Do you know how you pushed?”

The boy nodded. When asked if he could show them he said yes but he looked a little scared. He was a smart boy. He knew what he needed to do to show his daddy what he could do. “You won’t be scared of my or nothing? I never saw any of you do this and Steve was so upset that day.”

“There is nothing you could do to make you love you any less. I will not be scared of you,” Tony said as he let his son jump off his lap and pull him around the room. The boy reached up and held his hand out. Bruce looked at his expectant eyes for a second before shaking the boys hand. 

Bruce felt a jolt as his body was drained. His eyes lit up with white light and his spine burned with the pain. He fell back unconscious and was caught by Natasha before he hit the floor. The boy lifted his other hand towards the ceiling and a small portal opened. It was only about a foot wide and only stayed open for a little under a minute but it seemed to exhaust Elias as he sat down. He looked up at his father with fear in his eyes. Tony wasted no time in picking his son up and telling him how proud he was. He purposely avoiding looking at his sleeping friend as he praised his son on his bravery.

Charles called from across the room. “Elias, do you know how to wake up our friend? I think you took too much from him.”

Tony reassured him that he wasn’t in trouble as the boy reached over and placed his hand on Banner’s chest. The man convulsed once before opening his eyes. He looked questioningly around the room. “Did I hurt anyone?”

“No,” Natasha said with relief. “You were knocked out for a bit but it was only you, Bruce.”

He seemed happy with that answer and got up off of the floor. The others were still in a bit of shock and stayed silent as Tony took his son back to Sherry. Well, except for Richards who was fiddling with an instrument in his hand and talking in numbers and dimensions. Susan just smiled at her husband and let him ramble.

Tony finally came back into the room and dropped down into the chair. He ran his hands through his hair before looking at Xavier. “So my son is a mutant.” He sounded defeated.

“Yes,” Charles said. “Your son is going to need special schooling that my institute can provide. It looks like he was born with his powers and has already learned a lot about controlling them but he made grown men collapse with his use. I believe that he can be taught to use his powers without hurting others. He already saved humanity once. I believe he will again if given the chance.”

“You want my little boy to be an X-man.” Tony was getting upset.

“No, I want your little boy to learn and grow. I want your son to follow in his daddy’s footsteps like you know he will. I want him to have every chance possible to survive until old age.”

“Fine! And what about letting him grow up normal? I promised him that I wouldn’t force my childhood on him. He would have a chance at friends and self respect. I won’t abandon him to be raised by a group of strangers at a far away school.”

“Luckily for you that we live so close than. There is no reason for him to be boarded. There is also no reason for him to not simply have weekly tutoring until he hits puberty and any other powers he has will manifest. There is a reason I have so few younger children living at my school. Most mutants don’t show their abilities until their hormones start changing. I am sure that he doesn’t need the around the clock care that they do.”

Tony calmed down. “Okay. What do we have to do?”

XXX

The others slowly left the meeting. Instead of going into a hostile situation and taking down a danger to the civilian population, they were faced with a kid. Not just any kid but one of the Avenger’s children. Yeah, the Fantastic Four were the first to go home. Dr. Richards talking the entire way about how he wish that he could study Elias and have him help with his experiments. 

Coulson and Fury both excused themselves. They had a mystery to close and a new file to create. The Avengers also all trickled out. Well, all but Bruce. He stayed for a while and watched the two men make a plan for Elias’s tutoring and eventual future needs. He had a few questions and knew that nothing would get done in the lab until they were answered.

Tony was done and he looked at Bruce. He could tell that the man wanted to talk to the professor alone so he left. Xavier finally looked down at the table at him. “No,” He said. “The boy cannot cure you. He can take away the Gamma radiation that you are emitting if you ever become a danger to those around you but he cannot take the rest away without killing you. Please do not ask a little boy to help in your suicide attempts.”

Bruce went red and stormed out of the room.


	5. A new teacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elias meets his tutor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For many reasons (mostly money) I cannot buy comic books. I truly know next to nothing of the X-men universe so I had to go online to find a decent teacher. This was the closest I could find of someone who could use and emit the sun's radiation. Of course, the internet doesn't display personality or tell a good story. Please assume that my Shiro Yoshida is not cannon. I still have his mother dying of radiation from the Hiroshima bombing. I also have his powers be a direct relation to being hit with the same radiation while she carried him. If I am truly off about this character, than just assume he is not related to the one in the comic books.

About a week later Steve was given the day off while Tony and Pepper waited to meet the new tutor. JARVIS announced him before he stepped out of the elevator. He was an older gentleman but still managed to keep his dark hair. He was obviously of Japanese decent but held no trace of accent when he spoke.

“Mr. Stark. Miss Potts.” He tilted his head slightly but didn’t offer his hand. 

“Mr. Yoshida, thank you for agreeing to teach Elias.” Tony said. He only got a glare from the man. 

“Xavier gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” He walked over and sat down next to the little boy finally letting a smile trace over his features. “Good morning, Elias. I am Shiro. I will be your new teacher.”

The boy looked up at him. “Good morning, teacher. I am Elias, I will be your new tutent.”

“The word is student.”

“I know but Steve gets a kick out of misspoken words so I try to do that every now and then.” The boy smiled.

Shiro frowned. “I would prefer it if you did everything properly around me.”

Elias shrugged and then went back to his toys. This time he was using Legos to rebuilt the Avenger Tower.

“Elias, put those away.”

The boy ignored his new teacher. Tony told him to do as his teacher said, the boy still ignored them. 

“Please leave me alone with the boy.” Shiro stood up and looked at the parents. 

The two hesitated but then Pepper nodded and said that they would be in the next room. He had already been warned by Xavier that there was a computer watching over everything in the house but he felt better when it was just him and his student.

“Okay Elias. I need you to put those away now or you will have to learn the hard way that when I am here it is time for serious study.”

“Don’t wanna,” the boy pouted as he placed another block onto his tower.

Shiro put his hand on the top of the tower. Flames lept out and melted the blocks into it was one big colorful lump. The boy screeched and jumped back. Shiro expected the parents to be running into the room and was pleasantly surprised when they walked in calmly. This only furthered his belief that they were watching everything that he did.

“Hey, if you need a place to show off I have a whole floor built for this kind of thing that I’m sure Dr. Banner would be willing to show you. Of course, you would have to be careful not to hurt any of the Hulk’s things but I’m used to replacing those.” Tony walked over and picked up the Lego lump. He tucked it under his arm and left the room again. Pepper refused to leave.

Elias looked up at the man more curious than scared now that he saw that his father wasn’t bothered by what had just happened. He sniffled a tear at the loss of his toys but didn’t worry too much. There was a whole box of Legos in his room.

“Actually,” Shiro said, “We should convene there for our future lessons. For now, we will simply get to know each other a little bit.”

The boy calmed down and followed his teacher to the couch. After they both sat down and got comfy Pepper sat in a chair on the far side of the room pretending to be engrossed in her tablet.

“Like I said, My name is Shiro. I was told that you have a very special talent but need to be taught how to control it. Do you know what this talent is?”

Elias nodded. “I can push radiation.”

“And what does this cause?”

“Holes in the air.”

Shiro nods. “Those holes are called portals. Later we are going to have Dr. Richards join us and help us discover if they actually connect to other areas and if those areas shift around. Right now I need to teach you how to push without draining the life energy of the person you are next to. Do you understand?”

“I gave it back,” The boy looked worried. 

“Yes, but only after you took more than he could safely give. It is okay to use others with their permission which I hear you had but if you only needed a little bit of it you should only have taken a little.”

The boy looked mollified but nodded. “How do I do that?”

“Let’s find out together, shall we?” Shiro got up and walked over to the windows. Making sure that he was completely in a sunbeam he motioned for the boy to join him. Elias walked up and took the offered hand.

“That tingles.”

“Does it bother you?” the teacher asked.

“A bit. Can I push it away?” The boy bit his lower lip.

“Only if you think you can do it without taking too much from me.”

The boy scrunched up his face like he was concentrating really hard. Shiro felt a rush of strength leave him and a bright light hit his eyes. His spine hurt but not nearly as badly as he was lead to believe it would. A small hole appeared above their heads but only stayed for a few seconds. The light and pain went away and Shiro found himself laying down on the floor.

Elias was leaning over his teacher. Pepper was next to the man holding his head. “You fell down,” she said needlessly.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I guess I did.”

The boy looked worried. Shiro put a hand on his side and grinned up at him. “I didn’t pass out so that means that you are already learning how to use your powers. We’ll work on that. If you manage to push without knocking me out, I’ll give you some more to play with it.”

Shiro stood up and adjusted his clothes. “Thank you, Miss Potts for your assistance. I am now thinking that we may need a third person in the room for this. Do you think Dr. Banner would be willing to join us for our lessons?”

Pepper thought for a minute. “I’ll ask him. I honestly don’t see why not but I honestly don’t know him very well.”

“Thank you.” Shiro said to Pepper. Then he turned to the young boy, “I do not want you practicing your powers without me. I know that Dr. Banner gives off radiation but until you can control it you need to watch how you use it. Don’t go into the sun without sunblock and a hat. Tell an adult you trust if you feel anyone else make your skin tingle. You understand.”

“Yes, sir,” Elias said quietly while looking at his shoes. “What if it is too strong to ignore like a few weeks ago?”

“Than you push with all your might,” answered Shiro, “but please try to tell an adult first. Especially if you are going to use part of them as a leaping point for the push.”

XXX

“Professor,” Shiro said as he walked into Xavier's study. “I have analyzed the boy like you requested.”

“And?” The man looked up from his work.

“I will continue to tutor him. You are right. The boy posses a major threat if allowed to continue on his own. He could be a major asset to the world if he learns control.”

“Thank you, Shiro.”

“But you will tell me if you find anyone else capable of completing this task,” Mr. Yoshida growled out. “His family makes my skin crawl.”

“Look, I know that this isn’t easy but Tony and Elias are not the ones who killed your mother.”

“I know but they both look like Howard and it is tough to separate it in my head. He’s the reason I have gone through the hell I have.” Shiro sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Look, I don’t want to blame the children for the father’s sins and I know that Tony stopped producing weapons but knowing and feeling are two different things.”

Xavier sighed. “Yes, I know that very very well. I’ll keep looking but right now you are one of only two people I know who A, produce enough radiation to help the boy practice and B, are available to help him train. Since Dr. Banner cannot let too much out without risking an incident along with not being able to control his radiation output, that leaves you.”

“Yeah, fine. Just keep looking.”

“I will. One more question.”

Shiro looked at his teacher and nodded.

“Is the boy safe?”

“From what I could tell, he sucks in the sun’s radiation like I do. He also does not seem to be able to consciously release it yet and that worries me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t the most dangerous person in that building. He needs to learn how to manage his powers but I highly doubt they will manifest in a different way until he hits puberty or has a major stresser in his life.”

“His life will not be devoid of stressers. Please keep me posted of any progress in your lessons.”

Shiro nodded and left. He had a lot of thinking to do. Now how does one teach a one year old capable of saving the Earth before his second birthday?


	6. Protect Thyself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a group of men come in to kidnap Elias, can the Avengers help him or does this little boy have to protect himself.

It took a few months for the stresser to occur. Steve was playing with Elias on the roof pool when a helicopter flew overhead. Steve was used to news and paparazzi circling overhead. He looked up to see that it was from one of the local news agencies and it didn’t seem to pay any more attention to it. That was before the sharp jab in his arm. He looked down to see a little dart with red feathers. He shook his head and felt a wave of dizziness. The serum was quick to clean it from his blood stream but not before he had dropped Elias. The boy was also shot. They were in the shallow end but the boy was still in over his head. 

Steve grabbed him and pulled him above water. He hadn’t been under long enough to have hurt himself but the super soldier panicked as he pulled the boy out of the pool. Elias sputtered in his sleep but stayed unconscious as his nanny checked him over for problems. While Steve was focused on him a few men repelled out of the helicopter down onto the roof. 

The super soldier knew that he just needed to stall for a few minutes. He put himself between the men and the boy. Seven more darts hit him and he was down. He made sure that he didn’t land on Elias as the world went dark.

_____

Tony heard the alarm go off as JARVIS informed him of the attackers on the roof. He literally dropped what he was doing. Unfortunately it was right on his foot. He didn’t even notice the pain as he jumped and was surrounded by the Mach 52. 

He flew out of the chute he specially cut into the wall a few months ago. JARVIS opened it and sealed it behind the genius as he reached the outside and shot up towards the roof. When he got there he surveyed the situation. Steve was unconscious next to the pool. There were five men wearing black running towards a rope ladder leading to a helicopter. One of them was holding his son! Tony felt his heart stop. The reactor itself seemed to want to jump out of his chest. How can he stop the man without making him drop the almost two year old?

He quickly started shooting at the helicopter itself. He managed to force it to evade and it flew away from the tower for a bit. Iron Man did damage but not enough to knock it out of the sky. One of the men screamed as the rope ladder stayed just out of reach. Tony turned his direction onto him and shot his repulsor. The man screamed as he fell off of tower. One by one, the men were tossed over until all that was left was the man holding his son.

The man growled, “Stop right there!”

Iron Man came within a few feet of him and paused. The kidnapper had a gun held to his little boys head. He stuttered. He could see the Quinjet coming in but he had JARVIS wave them off. The desperation of the man in front of him was palpable. 

“Let the helicopter come in,” the man yelled. Elias started to move in his arms. 

Tony lifted his helmet. “Yes, just put the boy down.”

“You think I’m stupid?” the kidnapper yelled. “If I do you’ll kill me.”

“If you don’t I’ll make sure it is a slow death,” Tony shot back. 

Elias continued to wake up. He opened his eyes and saw his father. Tony looked scared. The boy had never seen that look on his dad before. He felt his body heat up. The fear turned to terror when he realized that the pain in his temple was being caused by the man holding him. He must be a bad man. He was being touched by a very bad man and his father was scared. His spine trembled as he allowed the terror to wash over him. The warmth turned into an actual burn as his skin turned yellow and then red. Flames jumped up from his swimming trunks as they burned away. The man holding him yelled and dropped him in shock. The boy landed hard, hitting his head and causing him to pass out. Tony screamed Elias’ name as he ran to his son. He shot blindly at the man hitting his face and killing him instantly. 

Iron Man picked up the little boy and started to fly to the nearest hospital. Tony yelled at JARVIS to do a scan of his son. “Sir, he’s burning up.”

“What?”

“He currently has a temperature of 64 degrees Celsius.... Now its at 63... Sir, I doubt that the local hospital would be able to help Master Elias.”

“Than what can I do?” the genius screamed. He had to go slow to keep from harming his son even further but fast enough to not waste time. He couldn’t concentrate. SHIELD wouldn’t be able to help, the normal hospitals can’t help. 

“The medical facilities of the Xavier Institute should be efficient. I’m putting the coordinates into the suit now.”

XXX

Natasha aimed and shot at the helicopter that was circling the tower. The pilot seemed to understand the lost cause and flew away. Barton angled the quinjet and followed the helicopter until it was over the ocean. Romanova wasted no time and shot it down. It hit the water hard leaving no doubt that there were no survivors.

The quinjet then returned to the Avenger’s Tower. The other men that Iron Man had fought were hanging onto the safety net circling the tower that the city made Stark install. Something about too many things being thrown off the roof over the years due to the various fights that seemed to break out in their home. 

The men were slowly collected and a SHIELD transport jet was soon taking them back to headquarters to be interrogated.

Clint heard a moan from nearby the pool. Oh, yeah, Steve. The super soldier got up a little unsteadily and shook his head a few times. Then he got a panicked look on his face. 

"Is Elias okay?" He asked quickly.

"Yep," Clint responded even though he actually had no idea. "His Daddy took to the hospital to be sure but Iron Man got him back safe and sound."

The relief rolled through Steve as he sat back down and covered his face. The emotions he felt at almost losing the little boy became too much and he didn't want anyone else seeing the look on his face as he held back a few tears. The boy was safe and that is all that mattered.

XXX

Tony was pacing in the hallway. His fingers kept tapping the walls as he worried his lower lip. They had been in their forever. What was going on with his son.

Pepper ran into the building. When she saw Tony he shrugged his shoulders. She threw herself into his arms and sobbed for a bit. 

It was another fifteen minutes before the large blue fury beast wearing a suit and lab coat calmly came through the door. 

“We have done every test we could think of,” said Dr. McCoy showing what should be a calming smile but there were a few too many fangs. “Your son is going to be fine. He’s just suffering from a minor concussion and will need to be watched for a few days but nothing harmful in the long run.”

Tony and Pepper both felt their bodies relax and hugged each other with joy. They were let in right away to see their son.

Elias was still sleeping. The monitors showed normal brain activity, heart beat and temperature. Mr. Yoshida was in the room with him. Tony had them take off all of the sticky equipment so that he could hold his son close without anything getting in his way.

“Mr. Stark,” Shiro said. “When you have a moment, come find me.”

Tony waved the man away as he continued to put all of his focus onto his little angel. Pepper was hugging Tony in a way that allowed her to hug Elias as well. She was petting his hair and whispering that she was so proud of him. When the boy woke up, it was to his parents smiles. He smiled back and enjoyed the love that he was surrounded by.

XXX

“Okay, Mr. Yoshida. What is it?” Tony wanted to get his family home. This meeting had better be important.

“Your son is progressing faster than we had anticipated.” Shiro said carefully.

“Of course! He is a Stark,” Tony huffed back.

“Can you please consider sending him to school here a little earlier than was originally planned?”

“Why? What’s here that he cannot get at home?” 

“Well, a safe environment to practice his powers, knowledgeable teachers, a group of kids who are not going to be scared of him and people who cannot be harmed by him.”

“I am not shipping my son off to a boarding school. I will be in his life!” Tony was not going to raise his son the same way that he was raised. He was going to be a dad, not just give the boy a name and a list of expectations that no one could ever achieve.

“No,” Shiro was quick to answer. “We wouldn’t take him away. I had a talk with Professor Xavier and we think it would be best if he attends preschool here starting next year. It would start at just two days a week and then move up from there. I would continue to tutor him until that time but he is going to need more than I can offer.”

The genius thought for a few minutes. He had no idea how to help his son with this. Mr. Yoshida is only one of three people who he had ever heard of with similar powers. Not the same but close enough that they may be able to him Elias. He slowly nodded his head.

“Fine,” Tony said. “He can start next year but Pepper, Steve or I will be accompanying him for the first year of class.”

“That is fine,” Shiro smiled at the worried father. “A lot of parents join their kids the first year of preschool. Especially those that are so young. We do not discourage it until they reach four years of age so you have until then to realize that we only want to help Elias.”

“Fine,” Tony said again. “I’ll have Pepper talk to your admissions people and get it set up. Until then, I will see you on Tuesday.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark. I will see you then.” Shiro watched as Tony picked up the suitcase like box that the Iron Man suit had collapsed into and reached for Pepper's hand. She was carrying Elias as they walked out the front door towards the car they had waiting for them outside.

Dr. McCoy walked up to Mr. Yoshida and said, “Now that is something I never expected to see.”

“What is that?” Shiro asked.

“The great Mr. Stark worried more about someone else than himself. I guess fatherhood has done good for him.” Dr. McCoy chuckled.

“You knew him before?”

“Oh, yes. He tried to get me to work for Stark Industries one time. Arrogant son of a ... I said no but he refused to take it as an answer. It took me two years to get him to stop bothering me.” The Beast shook his head, still grinning. “Thought I would have to hurt him. Then the terrorist kidnapping thing happened and he changed. He stopped trying to hurt everyone around him and began to work on improving the world. I’ve enjoyed watching him grow up.”

“Huh,” said Mr. Yoshida. “I guess he doesn’t take after his old man as much as I thought.”

XXX

Elias was in his bedroom playing with his dinosaurs. They roared and bit at each other over and over again. Tony wrapped his arms around Pepper as they watched their boy from the doorway.

“We really are going to be able to do this, aren’t we?” Tony whispered.

“Yeah,” Pepper said softly back. “He is probably the safest, best educated and most loved child on the planet. I think we are doing a good job.”

The two smiled at their son and then at each other as they leaned into a kiss. They knew that Elias had the most protective and powerful people in the world looking after him. It didn’t hurt that he proved that he could even protect himself. Yeah. Things were going to still get scary on occasion. Their lives made that an inevitability but it was all going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony is an engineer so I figured that he would have JARVIS speak in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. 
> 
> The men were questioned and they were hired to kidnap the boy for ransom. That is why it was such a bad attempt. No super bad guys. Just idiots.
> 
> This story coincides with others that I have written. I really need to work on my timeline. I have it all messed up and turned around. Oh, well. It's only going to get worse when I have to retrofit new movies into my universe.


End file.
